Chinese-English Translation · Composition

Mayday: Eternal Summer / 盛夏光年 (English translation)

I really like this song, which is about not wanting to grow up. However, since most of the phrases can’t be directly translated into English, I’ve added extra notes on the literal meaning of some of the lines in addition to a non-literal translation.

我驕傲的破壞 我痛恨的平凡
I take pride in destruction; I hate not standing out from the crowd[我驕傲的破壞: lit. ‘My prideful destruction’] [我痛恨的平凡: lit. ‘My abhorrent ordinariness’; 平凡 is a common noun in Chinese which has no common direct equivalent in English]

才想起那些是我最愛[But] then I recall that it’s these things I love the most[Lit. ‘Then recall those are my most loved]

讓盛夏去貪玩 把殘酷的未來 狂放到光年外 而現在
Let’s go and enjoy ourselves in the midsummer; the future is lightyears away; and now,[讓 has a lot of different meanings, so one could interpret 讓盛夏去貪玩 in other ways] [把殘酷的未來 狂放到光年外: literally ‘take the cruel future and crazily place it more more than a light year away’]

放棄規則 放縱去愛 放肆自己 放空未來
Let go of the rules, give in to love and yourself, ignore the future[Literal meanings: 放縱 is ‘indulge in’; 放肆 is something like ‘go on a rampage’; 放空 is ’empty [something]’]

我不轉彎 我不轉彎 我不轉彎 我不轉彎
I won’t turn back!

讓定律更簡單 讓秩序更混亂 這樣的青春我才喜歡
Simplify the laws of nature; let order become chaos; this my kind of youth

讓盛夏去貪玩 把殘酷的未來 狂放到光年外 而現在
Let’s go and have fun in the midsummer; the future is lightyears away; and now,

放棄規則 放縱去愛 放肆自己 放空未來
Let go of the rules, give in to love and yourself, ignore the future

我不轉彎 我不轉彎 我不轉彎 我不轉彎
I won’t turn back!

我要 我瘋 我要 我愛 就是
That which I want, I’ll go crazy for, I want, I love

我要 我瘋 我要 我愛 現在
The present is what I want, I’ll go crazy for, I want, I love

一萬首的mp3 一萬次瘋狂的愛
Ten thousand mp3s, ten thousand reckless romances,

滅不了一個渺小的孤單
Cannot destroy the speck of loneliness [in my heart][滅不了一個渺小的孤單: literally ‘destroy a tiny loneliness’. Also, 孤單 is usually used as an adjective.]

我要 我瘋 我要 我愛 就是
That which I want, I’ll go crazy for, I want, I love

我要 我瘋 我要 我愛 現在
The present is what I want, I’ll go crazy for, I want, I love

盛夏的一場狂歡 來到了光年之外 長大難道是人必經的潰爛
Revel in the summer; you’ll eventually get to the future; I hope growing up isn’t an experience we all have to suffer[盛夏的一場狂歡 來到了光年之外: literally ‘mid-summer’s one [event] revelry; come to light year outside] [長大難道是人必經的潰爛: literally something like ‘growing up: could it be that people must suffer festering’]